Send to a friendOpen Mike, Nov. 5-6, 2011

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Alex SchriverNational Chairman of the College Republican National Committee :

Obama’s Student Loan Farce

This week President Obama reached out to one of his most faithful and critical voting blocks of 2008: College Students. Penning an op-ed in the Harvard Crimson, he used the opportunity to tout his "plan" for the student loan crisis.

Unfortunately, his proposal proved to be merely a band-aid solution that has more to do with endearing himself to young voters than actually solving the crisis of skyrocketing tuition costs and burdensome college debt.

A recent report from the College Board found that average in-state tuition at a four-year public college rose an additional $631 this fall – up 8.3 percent from last year. To try and solve the problem, President Obama hopes to alleviate the burden of student loan debt by limiting the cost of monthly payments to 10 percent of disposable income and allow some outstanding debt to be forgiven in 20 years.

However, a report in the Atlantic revealed that once you break down the figures, the actual average monthly savings for those with student loan debt will be between $4.50 and $7.75 per month. The report goes on to say that only students making less than $45,000 will see any savings. Ironically, the average starting salary for a Harvard Graduate is more than $63,000.

As young people, we would love to see real solutions to the problems of skyrocketing education costs and crippling student debt. Unfortunately, President Obama’s approach is yet another campaign effort to reel in youth voters with empty rhetoric than actually provide them with tangible solutions. At the end of the day, changing the name from student loan debt to national debt does not shift the burden; it’s still on the tab of millions of young Americans.

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